NBCUniversal, Roku Add ‘Saved By The Bell,’ ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ ‘Little House on the Prairie’ to FAST Channel Lineup

NBCUniversal has launched new free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST) channels on The Roku Channel for the series “Saved By The Bell,” “Murder, She Wrote,” “Little House on the Prairie,” and “Bad Girls Club.”

The Roku Channel will also now offer a “Universal Crime” FAST channel, comprised of notable library series such as “Columbo, “Kojak” and “The Rockford Files,” as well as a “Teen NBC” (TNBC) channel, which will feature “Punky Brewster,” “Major Dad” and “Hang Time.”

Other channels set to launch later this year include “Universal Action,” which will include “The A-Team,” the original “Magnum P.I.” and “Knight Rider” with David Hasselhoff. There will also be an “Alfred Hitchcock Presents” channel focused on the Emmy-winning anthology series that showcased iconic mysteries, hosted by the legendary filmmaker.

“As FAST continues to gain incredible popularity in the marketplace, we’re excited to bring such terrific content options – including a strong roster of very well-known, fan favorite programming – to our viewers,” Jennifer Vaux, The Roku Channel’s vice president of content acquisition and programming, said in a statement.

The new FAST offerings expand on NBCU and Roku’s existing partnership, which includes channels NBC News Now, Dateline 24/7, Today All Day, LX, NBC local channels, Telemundo regional news channels, Sky News International and The Rotten Tomatoes Channel.

Launched in 2017, The Roku Channel offers a lineup of more than 80,000 free movies and programs and more than 350 free live linear television channels in the U.S. It also licenses and distributes content from more than 250 partners.

As of the fourth quarter of 2022, The Roku Channel reached U.S. households with an estimated 100 million people and was a top 5 channel on the Roku platform, measured by active account reach and streaming hour engagement in the first quarter of 2023.

The Roku Channel is available to stream on Roku devices or TVs as well as online. It is also carried on Amazon Fire TVs, Samsung TVs, Google TVs and other Android TV OS devices.

In addition to its partnership with Roku, NBCU has struck a deal with Amazon Freevee and Xumo Play for nearly 50 new FAST channels, featuring programming including “Saturday Night Live,” “The Real Housewives” franchises, “Top Chef” and “Keeping Up With the Kardashians.”

The post NBCUniversal, Roku Add ‘Saved By The Bell,’ ‘Murder, She Wrote,’ ‘Little House on the Prairie’ to FAST Channel Lineup appeared first on TheWrap.